To pundits and critics, the White House “beer summit” didn’t live up to its billing as part of a “teachable moment” on race. It looked as staged as it was, some said – right down to the White House-released photos of the three men clinking their beer glasses and the police officer helping the professor down the stairs to the Rose Garden.

But for President Barack Obama, trying to recover from a rare misstep on race, the fleeting images of the high-profile conclave with Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. were certainly welcome.

While journalists mocked the White House for the tightly controlled setting that kept the press 40 feet away, the pictures that emerged were of the president presiding over what looked like a businesslike discussion between two men who entered the national consciousness at distant ends of a racially polarized altercation.

For Obama, the first African-American president, it was a chance for him to reprise his role as a racial healer and mediator – an image he harnessed during the presidential campaign even as he rarely spoke in depth or detail about race.

In a written statement following the session, Obama struck a familiar tone of reconciliation, but made no attempt to litigate or even identify the issues in dispute.

“I have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart. I am confident that has happened here tonight, and I am hopeful that all of us are able to draw this positive lesson from this episode,” Obama said.

But even if all the White House had hoped for was that impression, in fact, Obama probably got a bit more.

Afterwards, Crowley and Gates struck a conciliatory tone that must have pleased the White House, agreeing to meet again in the future to try to find “a constructive outcome” from their joint experience – Crowley’s July 16 arrest of Gates at his own home for disorderly conduct, charges that were later dropped.

“We had a cordial and productive discussion today,” Crowley told reporters — with a poise that suggested he could have a future in politics or public speaking, if he chose that route.

Crowley also rolled out a sentiment Obama has often expressed on a variety of issues—that there is little value in litigating the past.

“We agreed to move forward,” the sergeant said. “I don’t think we spent too much time dwelling on the past. We spent a lot of time talking about the future.”

Despite the vows to strive for better understanding, though, Crowley made clear that he and Gates don’t see eye to eye about what happened two weeks ago—though they are trying to appreciate each other’s perspective.

“What you had today was two gentlemen agreed to disagree on a particular issue,” Crowley said.

“We can have our differences without demonizing one another,” Gates said in a written statement that was less explicit about the possibility of the two men working together in the future. “I am hopeful that we can all move on, and that this experience will prove and occasion for education not recrimination.”

And apologies? None, Crowley said.

Obama’s approach Thursday evoked his handling of the race during the presidential campaign when a litany of inflammatory comments emerged from his then-pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. After ignoring the issue at first, Obama attempted to extinguish the flap by delivering a speech on the history of racial issues in America.

The speech was well received and Obama won kudos for tackling the thorny issue of race. Yet, in many ways Obama spoke from 35,000 feet, above the fray over Wright’s comments. The future president managed to escape the controversy without addressing or saying whether he agreed with many of Wright’s specific claims.

Obama took a similar stance Thursday, encouraging the discussion but then stepping back. Even during the non-public portion of the gathering, Obama apparently made little effort to delve into the issues that led Gates and Crowley into conflict.

Asked what the president contributed to the Rose Garden exchange, Crowley said, “He provided the beer…..He contributed in a small part but he really wanted to bring two people together to try to solve not only a local issue in Cambridge, but also it has become a national issue.”

To be sure, the choreography of Thursday’s event did trigger claims, particularly from civil rights stalwarts, that Obama was putting symbolism ahead of substance. Some said a few beers did not constitute much of an effort when it came to one of America’s most intractable issues. The aloof approach also underscored a perception that Obama is more comfortable transcending race than grappling with it.

“What we have is a very healthy demonstration of the form,” said Hilary Shelton, a vice president of the NAACP, when asked about Thursday’s event. “Now, we have to move forward with content…There’s more to be done. He’s the president of the United States. He is the chief executive officer for the country and the chief policy maker for the country. In that context, it’s now time to talk about policies that would prevent this kind of thing from happening again.”

Other observers noted that the reason Obama agreed to the unusual White House gathering was because he publicly took Gates’ side during a news conference, telling reporters that the police “acted stupidly” in the incident. Obama later said he could have “calibrated those words differently.”

Seemingly cognizant of the appearance that Obama and Gates could be appearing to team up against Crowley, the White House added a chair and a non-alcoholic beer for Vice President Joe Biden. His presence gave the event a kind of racial symmetry it might have lacked in his absence.

Still, some found the gathering too vacuous given the seriousness of the subject.

“As a teachable moment, what this beer fest taught was that if a President’s staff is so incompetent that it fails to prep him for a press conference by obtaining relevant information he can create problems for himself,” said Mary Frances Berry, a former chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Berry said the lack of any substantive message from the meeting was a missed opportunity. “The president has been forced to apologize and drink beer with the combatants in an almost comical photo-op.”

GOP strategist Rich Galen said the White House had put the best face on the situation, but would never fully erase the perception that Obama instinctively took Gates’ side. “Obama lapsed back into his us-against-them mindset. As a community organizer, [he assumed] the white cops did something bad. That’s still there. That’s not going away,” Galen said. “It’s probably over as a story, but not as a data point in terms of how Obama thinks.”